Hiccup looked so cute when he's mad. His normally large green eyes narrowed in thin, spring colored slits. His nostrils flared above his perfect scowl, showing just a bit of his crooked teeth. As old as he got, his teeth were still goofy.
"What are you smiling at?" he spat at me.
"You," I shrugged, "you look so cute when you're mad."
Hiccup shot me a look of disgust. "Not this time," he growled at me, taking a step closer. "Every time we fight you just shrug it off like it's nothing and I go along with it. Not this time. I'm sick and tired of not knowing what you think of! Tell me, Jack! What pisses you off?!"
A floated off my perch on the fence, frowning. "I don't want to fight with you, Hiccup," I retorted.
"Why not?!"
"Because!" I blurted out, throwing my arms up.
"Because isn't an answer, Jack!" Hiccup fumed, taking another step closer. He was almost as tall as me now. I lost it.
"Because...because...because you're almost as tall as me!" I sputtered out quickly. Hiccup took away his steps and stared at me, confused.
"What?" he asked quietly, the befuddlement apparent in his voice.
"You keep getting older," I pushed through my teeth. "Every day you get older, like every other person. In case you haven't noticed, I don't get older! I'm over 300 years old, Hiccup! I don't want to fight with you because, well, because you don't have time!" When I finished, I could feel my chest heaving up and down. My breath came out in tiny clouds that disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Hiccup blinked at me.
"Jack," he started.
"No!" I snapped at him. "Just..." his green eyes drooped with worry, "just forget about it." I grabbed my staff off the fence and kicked off into the wind, flying high above Berk.
"Thought I'd find you here," Hiccup mumbled as Toothless landed in the alcove. I watched him pull his prosthetic leg out of the stirrup and peel the saddle off his dragon. The black lizard's ears twitched as a rabbit shot into a bush. In a flash he had disappeared into the shrubbery. Hiccup stood next to me.
"Hey," I grumbled, scooting over to give him a place to sit. Hiccup sat next to me and leaned against the rock. His hair was a little messy from his flight over here, but his breathing was steady and calm.
"Jack," he sighed, turning to look at me. His normally bright green eyes seemed faded.
"Hiccup," I breathed. It felt so good to say his name. We sat together on the rocks for what seemed like a long time, sometimes stealing a glance at one another, sometimes watching Toothless. I had no idea what to do.
Eventually, Hiccup rested his head on my shoulder and fell asleep. I was so tempted to sleep with him but all I could imagine was waking up and him being gone, so I kept my icy blue eyes open. I kept myself awake by watching Toothless hop around the alcove, hunting rabbits and fishing. The black Nightfury fell asleep, however, and left me to myself. I let my mind wander to frost-covered windows and cold winter winds. After an hour, I felt Hiccup stir on my shoulder.
"Wake up, sleepy head," I cooed softly, poking his head. He smiled at me sleepily, damn those eyes!
"You shouldn't have let me fall asleep on you," he yawned, sitting up. I shrugged and stood up to stretch out my back. I knew what we were doing and I didn't like it, but at the same time, I didn't feel like talking about it either. I turned to look at Toothless, or where Toothless should have been.
"Where's Toothless?" I asked, further avoiding the more significant topic.
"Dunno," Hiccup slurred, standing up. He let out an awful Nightfury call and we waited. In the few seconds it took for Toothless to return, I stared at the viking. He didn't notice, which was good or I would've gotten yelled at. I watched the way he pouted as he waited for his dragon, the way his arms tensed and relaxed when he played with his fingers. All these little things he did I remembered. I knew the way his freckles swam on his skin when he moved, I knew the ways his lips curved when he talked. I knew everything about him. This is how I wanted to know him.
When Toothless crashed through the trees, Hiccup's face lit up. He trotted over to pat down his over-sized lizard and make sure he was unharmed. The dragon, however, was not paying any attention to his beloved owner, but to me.
I scowled, "What do you want, fish breath?" Usually when I insulted Toothless, he hissed and pounced on me. This time was different. He made a grumbling sound in his stomach and walked over slowly, placing each scaled foot on the dirt with care. I got a glimpse of Hiccup with his eyebrows raised and laughed.
"Toothless, what are you doing?" he chuckled. The dragon was now by my side, staring at me with his cat-like eyes. "He isn't usually this nice to you." I smiled and shrugged. Toothless knew what was going on, and so did Hiccup and so did I. All three of us knew what we were doing.
After one last look into those reptilian eyes, I sighed. "Hiccup," I began, "there's something we have to talk about." There it was, what I had been trying to avoid, the sad Hiccup. I had seen Hiccup cry all of two times, and both times I cried with him. I was not ready for what was going to come next.
"We don't have to," Hiccup mumbled, looking very interested in his boot.
I rolled my eyes. "Yes we do. We have to talk about-"
"No, I mean we don't have to break up," Hiccup whispered into the dirt. I bit my lip and stared at the mop of brown hair in front of me, waiting for him to cry. When he didn't move, I sighed.
"It's not that I don't love you, Hiccup. It's because I love you as much as I do. You understand that, don't you?" I tried my best to keep my voice steady and seem calm. Beside me, Toothless sat down, his head resting under my hand.
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child," Hiccup growled, still looking at the dust. I saw the spots of darkened ground where his tears had fallen. I crouched and looked up into his spring-green eyes.
"Hiccup," my voice quivered. As usual, the sight of him crying strangled me.
"I've seen you, Jack Frost, like no one else has! Don't talk to me like I'm fucking five years old!" he snapped at me, making eye contact. His normally lovable face was twisted and red. He was trying not to cry, I could tell.
I chewed on my lower lip nervously before I mumbled, "This isn't how I want to remember you." Hiccup glared at me.
"What?" he hissed, tears flowing in between his freckles.
"I don't want to remember you like this, Hiccup," I repeated, my own eyes stinging painfully. You can do this, I chanted to myself. I inhaled, my lungs hardly being able to do their job. "I want to remember you like you were with Toothless: happy, young and healthy, like you are now. Not old and dying, smiling sadly at me with fading green eyes as you struggle to suck in your last breath, your skin sagging and pale." I could hear my voice cracking. "Hiccup, I love you. If you'd stop getting so damn tall I might be able to love you a little longer, but..." I couldn't do it. My mouth twitched as the tears made their way down my face. I tried to control the awkward noises I was making, but my throat decided not to listen to me. I felt Toothless nudge me and I pushed the overgrown lizard away. I ended up falling into the dry dirt.
Hiccup stood above me, staring at me like he couldn't believe what was going on. I wiped my eyes and looked at him. He looked so beautiful when he was crying, and I was a mess.
"You," I choked out, pointing. "You look so wonderful." Hiccup smiled and knelt beside me, grabbing for my hand.
"I love you, too," he whispered, squeezing my fingers. "No matter how cold you are." I could see the fresh tears blurring the green of his eyes.
"This is Berk," I sniffed, placing my hand on top of Hiccup's. His eyes let loose their newest production of waterworks and he grinned.
"It snows nine months of the year," he sang sadly.
"And hails the other three," I finished. I managed to smirk and added quietly, "You're welcome." Hiccup dropped his head into my lap and cried. I wrapped my arms around his skinny figure and held him. He wasn't as bony as I remembered.
"I'm going to miss that," Hiccup blubbered into my legs. My arms tensed and my breathing quickened. Toothless had placed his head next to his master, doing all he could to comfort him. I closed my eyes and tried to think of a time when Toothless wasn't there, I couldn't.
"You'll have Toothless," I muttered into Hiccup's vest. At the sound of his name, the Nightfury's ears twitched. "Even when I'm not here."
"No!" Hiccup wailed, wrapping his arms around my waist. It was time to go.
"Hiccup," I whimpered, my arms falling limply to my side. "Hiccup, let go." He didn't listen. "Hiccup," I moaned, tugging at his sleeve.
"If it ever snows here again, I'm going to kill you," he grumbled. My lips twitched into a smile at his attempt to be tough. Hiccup sat up and stared at me, his face flushed. I put my hands in his and stood up, pulling him up with me. The wind rustled our hair, tugging at my sleeves. My body rose up a little until I was the same height above Hiccup I was when we first met. Very gently, I placed a kiss on his nose, causing frost swirls to blanket his face.
"Peace," I whispered, the wind forcing me farther into the sky. Hiccup shot out of sight as the chilling breeze brought me farther away. My eyes stung from the climate change. What a stupid thing to say, I thought to myself, pushing away from the viking island.